While the MoF is remaining tight-lipped on what these potential new taxes could be (they’re quoted as saying that they are still “under analysis” and likely wouldn’t be introduced in the near future), they did take the time to stress that “the UAE is not currently looking at introducing income tax”.

This will come as a relief to the UAE’s significant expat population who look at the country’s tax-free status as one of the primary attractions for living and working here.

An income tax may, however, become inevitable. In October, Gulf Businessquoted the deputy director of fiscal affairs department at the IMF, Abdelhak Senhadji, as saying that eventually a tax on people’s personal income may be necessary across the GCC depending on the development of oil markets and what the overall budget looks like. Thankfully, that still seems to be a little ways off…